Fish plug



April 3; 1951 G. H. PATTERSON l 2,547,279

FISH PLUG Filed Jan. 20, 1947 *1 2 62 ff 4 FIG s 'Ill-2 '2 attorney Patented pr. 3, k19x51 fUNl TED 4Sfr/AflES PATENT kOFFllfCli "2,547,279

zFISH PLUG v"Greorvge Henry Patterson, Seattle, .Wash.

Application January 20, 1947, Serial'kNo. 723;'109

l A. '.Thfejpresent invention relates etosh-fplugs.

i A.;1ish;:plug, of the general type contemplated vglrfy this invention, comprises Ya tbody `member iadapted .to be fastened to a line for `fpulling 'through the water and having mounted directly 'pnitfahook orrazplurality v,of hooks ,intended to lbe taken vby :a fish. U Most `fish vplugs V`havetheir hooks more yorless s`ecur'ely and immovablyfaixed to lthe-'body mem- 'berief .the plug. However, kthere .is a class of plugsfin which .the hooks .aremounted .for movev"ment on the Vbody Lmenibers. movement "is intended to 'take ,place when the -lshtalkes a hook,`and the larranfgement lis usually `'suclithat.the hook, caught in 'the mouth of the "iish, may be pulled free 'of its .original "position fon' the body memberb'ut bek'eptjconnected 'there- Ito'itohold the 'fish secured :to Lthejplug andthe iline.

y It is :to this .latter class oflplugs that the presvent vinvention relates. It provides a'n'ovel `ar- Y 'rangement *Tor lyieldably` securing Eaplurality of hooks -to 'abodymember insuch a way that each *hook `:isoriginally '-mourtedo'n 'the' plugin a posi- `Ytion f'faoilitating laccess of Ithe ffis'h to "it Iandiper- .-n'i" tihgthe hook; Whenftaken bythe sh, to Vbe 1iizst'i-lled free vofthe plug 2While maintained vcon- `nected thereto rafter moving through valshort Aliiifiite'ddistance during which movement -lthe ysh '.1is-::generally Isecurely impaled fon fthe hook l'with lopportunity tojescape therefrom.

A principal object of ltheinvention v'is :to yprofiride ian :arrangement of the iclass y'described in *which ieach hooklfean Ebel :rapidlyand easily l,setrin ioriginal rposition.

Another `object is toxzprovideza shaplug dof this type which can be made at extremely low cost .-.and which will 4'be-durable in VAuse and uniailing in loperation., l

important object nis to .arrange the parts ofthe complete vvplug construction finrsuch a Way that-a `fish; .taking the hook will y.be :unable to free V-the'hook from its mouth by Aprying .against the gLbody member carrying zthe hook, V.so that -once -=zeaughtinthe mouthrof-the shthe hook will become separated from the fbodymember andvany Vl,further movement by the fish WillfoperatetoA set "the y'hook more rmly vin :its mouth.

17 Claims. y(o1. za-.42415) Y ,-iAfrelated-"objeot is to '.providegfor al yielding or abruptly applied fby the retreating iish. Thus ithe'dan'ger `of shook tearing through :the

v 12 mouthpf the fish and liberating theifishis-y lmin-imized.

l'nother `obj ect iis to "arrange the iho'ok or-hooks Lfor detachment from the plug upon the breakisfactoryfand 'which yisither'efor-'e at ipresent pre- Aferred liby me.

'This embodiment is illustrated by @the accomlpanying drawing, in which: Figure .1 Yis a sidefelevati'orial-view,fonsubstan# tially full :sca1e,lof 'a' plug embodying the finvention, with certain of the parts i,broken 'away for better illustration;

Fig.r2 isa transverse'crossaseetional view taken on the line v2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is :a vrear endfelevationalwiew;

Fig. 4 is aside'- elevational lView, 4con ai relatively reducedv scale, showing ther parts fin the 'aposition which they assume after one of the hooks has Ibeen :taken fbyfia'shsand .pulled 4tothe limito'f'its :separation rfrom the body member;

Fig. 5.is a central longitudinal -fcrossesectional -viewf-'of the bodym'emberof the plug; and f .-Figqf is a :detail viewsof the :trailing edge v.of

the `body member'f'somewhat distorted to lshow idifa'gra'mmatica'lly the .connection 'of v the .'lin'e ll' to .the ringl and both of the .leaders `:5 passing through the ring.

Referring '-to the 'gurea jthe Vdevice vincludes 1.a body member l fin the 'fformro'faa more @or :less solid plug of'woo`cl-1or`i'the flik'e, vpreferably having `a, @circular yCross-section shape tapered Yto :sub-

'sstantially la pointv a't *its etrailing end :or :at V'both :cendsh The precise vshape .vofithe body, vvand.' its vsurface finish .and adecoration, y*are matters Aof `selection and :form :no part Vof 'the :present 1invention Y `Generally speaking; 'the invention Acontemplates .mounting `on the body a pair -of zhooks fastened 'to the opposite ends ofa.-single leader and Var ranged vto be `pulled-'by :aiish from the :body 'in :twofstages .of movement, 'bothr of uwhich-'stages are yieldably resisted 'so that the 'movement fis Vjiinally terminated Without .shock or 4abruptness --that might ytear .the hookfrom :the mouth of lthe flSh. Y

4All vof :this is .aecormralished lby :the-'arrangement shown 1in the drawing, Afparof hooks 2,.2

I i) have the usual enlarged eyes 3 at the rear end of the shank 4 of each of them, and both eyes are connected to the opposite ends of a single leader 5 of such length that each hook can be laid in the forward end of a slot 5 cut lengthwise along diametrically opposite portions of the surface of the body member l, with the hook points facing forwardly at about the middle of the length of the body member and with the leader lying in the two slots Sand passed through a ring or eye 'l which extends from the trailing edge of the body member.

Yieldably releasable means such as the resilient band 8 transversely encircles the bodyY member at the zone of the hook shanks or of the eyes 3 thereof and releasably holds the hooks in their slots 6. It is convenient tomake the band 8 in the form of a Split strip of spring metal and to hold it in a slot by means of a screw Hl threaded through the body member sufficiently far from each of the slots S to permit the band 8 to yield enough, when either of the hooks is pulled, to free that hoolz from its position under the band.

The body is bored, as shown at l2, more or less along its longitudinal axis for passing a line ll by which the body is pulled through the water in the usual way. It is to the tail end of this line Il that the ring or eye 'l is connected, and the plug body member is made freely slidable on the line except to the extent to which it is kept at the tail end of the line by the cooperation of the ring 1, which is too large to pass through the bore I2, and the leaders 5, which are passed through the ring and are attached to the body. An important point about the arrangement is that the body is not directly fastened to the line, thus producing certain advantages which will be hereinafter explained.

The body may optionally be provided with any usual shape or appurtenance for causing it to float, spin, wiggle or engage in any other type of action, depending on the kind of fishing operation in which it is intended to be used, and the hooks 2 may of course be of any appropriate kind, shape and size.

When a fish takes either of the hooks 2 it pulls on the hook and the band 8 expands enough to release the hook from its position in the slot E. Continuing tension imposed on the leader 5 causes the leader to be pulled through the ring releasing the hook at the other end of the leader from its position under the band 8, which release is yieldably resisted by the flexing of the band.

When the second hook is released the fish can f pull further on the first hook to bring the eye 3 of the second hook up to the ring but at this point further movement is prevented by the inability of the eye 3 of the second hook to pass through the ring. Thus the fish is held captive at a distance from the plug body member egual to the length of the leader, as indicated in Fig. 4.

A fish thus held has little chance to escape, because it has become securely caught on the hook during the two yieldable stages of movement of the hook from its original position and because the fish has no solid body member against which to pry or exert leverage in an effort to straighten out the hook or otherwise become freed from it.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the arrangement which has just been explained is duplicated, so that two leaders are used, carrying four hooks which are initially positioned equidistantly around the surface of the body inem- 4 ber, all resiliently held under a single band 8. This is the arrangement shown in the drawing. Both of the leaders are passed through a single ring 1, which is easily accomplished if the ring be set in a shallow kerf formed in the trailing end of the plug body in such a way that the plane of the ring lies at an oblique angle to both of the diametrical planes in each of which are formed the two slots 6 for one of the leaders. This arrangement is best shown in Fig. 3, from which it will be noted that each ofthe leaders penetrates the ring at such an angle with very little if any change in direction of the leader where it passes through the ring. Thus there is no chance of the leader becoming twisted or fouled in the ring.

It will be understood that if the second leader and pair of hooks be used, this additional leader and pair of hooks are identical with the first and are held in position and operate in exactly the same manner as previously explained. For this reason the same reference numerals are used in the drawing to designate both leaders and the hooks of both sets, and no further description of them is required.

As has been explained, the ring 'l' is tied to the end of the line Il and is held on the plug body solely because it is too large to pass through the bore l2 and because the leaders maintain it up against the body, as in the kerf provided for it. When a fish takes one of the hooks and pulls it to its limit of separation from the body, as shown in Fig. 4, the fish is held captive solely by the combination of the line, ring, leader and hook. The plug body is no part of this combination. It follows from this fact that if any part of the holding combination should break, so that the fish escapes, the sh will not be able to make off with the plug body. Thus, if the leader breaks. the body remains attached to the line by the ring 7, If the ring should break or become separated from the line l I, or if the line should break anywhere along its length, the fish will escape with the hook or pair of hooks and perhaps a part of the line, but the plug body will be released and iioat on the surface of the water where it can be retrieved by the fisherman. Hence the preferred arrangement of mounting the plug body on the line insures against loss of the body under any circumstances. I regard this as an important feature of the invention.

It is to be understood vthat the invention is capable of being embodied in other and further modified forms, all within its spirit and principles as pointed out by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A sh plug comprising a body member having an eye at its trailing end portion, a leader penetrating saideye and slidable therethrough,

a hook fastened to each opposite end of the leader, means securing the hooks to the opposite sides of the body member, said means being yieldable so as to operate, when one of the hooks is pulled, to free said hook from the body member and so as to operate thereafter, when the leader is pulled through the eye, to free the other hook from its position on the body member, and an enlargement on each hook preventing the hook from being pulled through the eye whereby the rst freed hook is kept tethered to the body member while capable of being moved a limited distance therefrom. 2. A fish plug as claimed in claim l in whic the yieldable means is a spring band encircling the body member and holding the hooks against the body member.

3. A fish plug as claimed in claini- 1 in which said body member is provided with lengthwise slots in the sides thereof, and the yieldable means is a spring band encircling the body member and holding each of the hooks in one of said slots.

4. A fish plug as claimed in claim 1 in which said body member is provided with lengthwise slots in the sides thereof, and the yieldable means is a spring band encircling the body member and holding the shank of each of the hooks in one of said slots with the point of each hook facing the forward or leading end of the body member.

5. A sh plug comprising abody member having a trailing end portion provided with an eye, a pair of leaders penetrating said eye and slidable therethrough, a hook fastened to each opposite end of each or the leaders, means securing the hooks of each leader to diametrically opposite parts of the surface of the body member so that the four hooks are spaced substantially equidistantly around the body member, said means being yieldable so as to operate, when one of the hooks is pulled, to free said hook from the body member and so as to operate thereafter, when the leader of said hook is pulled through the eye, to free the other hook fastened to said leader from its position on the body member, and means preventing each hook from being pulled through the eye whereby the rst freed hook is kept tethered to the body member While capable of being moved a limited distance therefrom.

6. A sh plug as claimed in claim 5 in which the eye projects rearwardly from the longitudinal axis of the body member and is positioned in a pla-ne oblique to each of the diametrical planes in which the two leaders are positioned.

7. A sh plug comprising a body member having a substantially lengthwise bore, a line eX- tehding thro-ugh the bore having secured to its end a ring having a diameter larger than that of the bore and seated against the trailing end of the body member, a leader penetrating the ring and slidable therethrough, a hook fastened to each opposite end of the leader, means securing the hooks to the opposite sides of the body member, said means being yieldable so as to operate, when one of the hooks is pulled, to free said hook` from the body member and so as to operate thereafter, when the leader is pulled through the ring, to free the other hook from its position on the'body member, and means preventing each hook frombeing pulled through the ring whereby the rst freed hook is kept tethered to the body member while capable of being moved a limited distance therefrom.

GEORGE HENRY PATTERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,816,725 Freeman July 28, 1931 2,181,254 Wilson Nov. 28, 1939 2,246,757 Rosegard June 24, 1941 2,373,417 Y Rosegard Apr. 10, 1945 X FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 111,322 Australia Feb. 15, 1939 

